Roots

  One of my pastimes is genealogy, also known as family history.  It is interesting to know who your ancestors are and where they came from.  I notice that people sometimes get hung up on ancestors that may be of notoriety, delusions of grandeur, if you will.  This can put into question the accuracy of ones lineage.  For example, it had always been assumed from various sources that my family line goes back into  England.  It appears from other researchers, that there might have been a scandal in the family of my ancestor in the late 1600's.  It seems that my ancestor's brother might have come about from his father getting to friendly with one of the servants in the household, but it was all covered up to save face.  Of course that doesn't change who I am or anyone in between. 

  Nevertheless, it is interesting to learn about ones progenitors.  Not to appear prideful, but I want to point out that history seems to be more real when I have learned that my ninth great-grandfather was the founder of Salem, Massachusetts (no, he had nothing to do with witch hunts) or that I am distantly related to Abraham Lincoln and Myles Standish.  Makes it fun to happen upon such information.
  Some of my friends and family think I am mad to collect genealogy information that is so far flung from my family line.  I have over 30,000 names in my file, now.  Occasionally I will be way out in some obscure branch of the huge family tree, and it will come right back to the beginning again.  So, just like someone who likes to pop bubble packing, I continue pumping in the data.

I looked up my family tree and found out I was the sap. - Rodney Dangerfield